The Giver (2014)

The Giver Synopsis

The haunting story of The Giver centers on Jonas (Brenton Thwaites), a young man who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment. Yet as he begins to spend time with The Giver (Jeff Bridges), who is the sole keeper of all the community’s memories, Jonas quickly begins to discover the dark and deadly truths of his community’s secret past. With this newfound power of knowledge, he realizes that the stakes are higher than imagined – a matter of life and death for himself and those he loves most. At extreme odds, Jonas knows that he must escape their world to protect them all – a challenge that no one has ever succeeded at before. The Giver is based on Lois Lowry’s beloved young adult novel of the same name, which was the winner the 1994 Newbery Medal and has sold over 10 million copies worldwide.

Latest The Giver News

These are the under-the-radar films that really deserve an extra look. They earned rave reviews (and rightfully so), so close out the summer season with one – or all – of these underappreciated gems, which are in theaters or on VOD as we speak.

Sean, Kristy, Mack and Mike
Aug 21, 2014

5 Unsung Movies You Have To Catch Before Summer Ends

The new competition this weekend was no competition at all, leaving the box office to begin sloughing through its slow, steady chain of mostly sleepy stuff that fills in the gap between the end of summer and the beginning of the holiday bonanza.

Following are the 10 biggest changes I noticed in my screening of The Giver. Plenty of other details were changed, of course, and feel free to remark on any differences you feel may have been more noticeable. Check it out if you've seen the movie, but watch out for spoilers!

Jessica Rawden
Aug 16, 2014

10 Big Differences Between The Giver Book And Movie

I’m a bit down in the dumps. Why? I’m now 36 hours removed from an ER visit after breaking my ankle while fighting crime (falling off a ladder). But I know something that can start the healing process! Talking about a few movies ought to do the trick. This week we get expendable, give, and become cops. And all the while I get to take my mind off a non-displaced fracture to the left fibula.

Doug Norrie
Aug 10, 2014

This Rotten Week: Predicting The Expendables 3, Let's Be Cops And The Giver Reviews

Jeff Bridges might be known primarily as The Dude, but once you've read some of the stuff he's said in his recent AMA, you'll see him in a completely different light. You'll also probably want to take up the art of Zen, so we're not held responsible for your potential future oneness.

Mike Reyes
Jul 27, 2014

Even Jeff Bridges Can't Stop Watching The Big Lebowski And 5 Other Things Learned From His AMA

Thankfully, we live in a day and age where “lost” footage like this can be retrieved and shared via alternate avenues. I think that Lois Lowry fans would be curious what Bridges wanted to do with her material.

Sean O'Connell
Jul 24, 2014

Jeff Bridges Filmed His Own Version Of The Giver Back In The Day

That time of year is almost upon us. In just two weeks, geeks and nerds from around the world will be hopping in their cars and boarding planes to head out to southern California for the annual San Diego Comic-Con. As always, we expect that the event will be packed with all kinds of big announcements and sneak peeks, but what hasn’t been clear is precisely what is going to be on display. Today the roll-out of that information has begun.

Eric Eisenberg
Jul 10, 2014

Goosebumps, The Giver, Goonies, And More Highlight San Diego Comic-Con 2014's Thursday Schedule

Everything we've seen for Phillip Noyce's feature adaptation of Lois Lowry's The Giver points to a couple of noticeable shifts from the source material. The characters' ages are a prime example, as is the emphasis on Odeya Rush's character Fiona, who's seen in the above poster, positioned slightly behind star Brenton Thwaites.

Kelly West
Jun 29, 2014

The Giver Poster And Stills Put Jonas And Fiona Front And Center

Inside is the new trailer for The Giver, which introduces the premise in a pretty interesting way. As befitting the source material, the beloved Lois Lowry book, the trailer actually begins in black and white. Just the very act of changing the colors available to the audience conveys the escalating action.

Gabe Toro
Jun 04, 2014

New Trailer For The Giver Reveals An Epic Jeff Bridges-Meryl Streep Showdown

20 Summer Movies You Absolutely Can Not Miss

What's new about this trailer? Well, as we saw in a previously released featurette, the film is going to fitting with the aesthetic established in the book and is partially photographed in black and white. Also, instead of the shots of action and conflict that were included at the end of the first trailer, we now have a quippy stinger where Jonas refers to himself as a “Receiver” and The Giver drops the title of the film as a response to the question of just who he is.

Mike Reyes
Apr 22, 2014

New Trailer For The Giver Blends Color With Black And White

Featuring a great cast that includes Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep, The Giver centers on a young man named Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) who lives in what in what many believe is a utopia. A world far different from our own, the society has been purged all of all emotion, history and even color (hence the black and white).

Eric Eisenberg
Apr 13, 2014

The Giver Featurette Reveals The Movie Will Partially Be In Black And White

Finally! After what felt like a decade of stops and starts and production delays, we finally have a trailer for The Giver. Clocking in at under a minute and a half, it’s not a huge taste of what we’ll see in theaters, but it’s enough to give those who haven’t read the book a brief background of what to expect and those who have read the book a few hot glimpses at some of the novel’s bigger plot developments.

Mack Rawden
Mar 19, 2014

The Giver Trailer Is Here, Feel Free To Finally Get Excited

Of all the novels getting the big-screen treatment in 2014, arguably the most anticipated and indeed worrisome is Philip Noyce’s adaptation of Lois Lowry’s universally beloved 1993 children’s novel The Giver, which will be taking audiences into the world of Sameness this summer.

Nick Venable
Jan 23, 2014

The Giver's First Look Features A Bearded Jeff Bridges And Brenton Thwaites With Child

What follows is a list of fourteen books whose film adaptations are either already in production or quickly heading in that direction. Some of them probably aren’t your cups of tea, but if you look hard enough, I guarantee you’ll find a few gems among this pile. Beyond that, you’ll probably hit on a few classics worth rediscovering too.

Jessica Rawden
Jan 09, 2014

Your 2014 Reading Guide: 14 Great Books About To Become Movies

Based on the 1993 young adult novel by Lois Lowry, The Giver centers on a 12-year-old boy named Jonas, who lives happily in a society that seems to be ideal, lacking sickness, conflict and racism. However, there is a trade-off to keeping this utopia so shiny and agreeable, and Jonas is about to learn all its troubling truths after being chosen to inherit the position of "Receiver of Memory."

With a screenplay that was most recently given a rewrite by playwright Michael Mitnick, The Giver tells the story of a young boy named Jonas (Brenton Thwaites), who lives in what seems to be a perfect utopia, where everyone has resorted to complacency and overt lawfulness in exchange for no sickness, pain, or color.

Nick Venable
Sep 26, 2013

Katie Holmes Joins Meryl Streep And Jeff Bridges In The Giver

Set to be directed by Philip Noyce, the story centers on a young man named Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) who lives in what is believed by all to be a utopian society. All emotion, history and even color has been purged from the world, and when boys of girls come of age they are assigned their lot in life.

First published in 1993, the book tells the story of Jonas (Thwaites), a young man living in a supposedly utopian society where all emotion, history, and even color has been completely eliminated. When Jonas is of age he is informed that he has been chosen to become the new Receiver of Memories, a position that sees him become the mentor of the former Receiver of Memories, now known as The Giver (Bridges).

First released in 1993, the story is set in another world where all emotions, history and freedom has been expunged. Thwaites will play the role of Jonas, a young man who, when assigned a profession, is given the important yet painful job of being the society's Receiver of Memories. The new position sees him cut off from everyone he knows and he is mentored by the former Receiver of Memories, known as The Giver (Bridges).

Eric Eisenberg
Jul 02, 2013

The Giver Adaptation Signs Maleficent Star To Join Jeff Bridges

Lois Lowry's s 1993 award-winning novel The Giver was a staple of just about every 90s kid's diet of books, and Hollywood has been trying to capitalize on that for years. Studios have tried and tried to make an adaptation of the book, but for whatever reason the project has always managed to hit roadblocks that prevent it from actually getting made. Well, now things are starting to look good again as the film may have finally found a director.

Eric Eisenberg
Nov 07, 2012

Salt Director Phillip Noyce May Direct The Giver Adaptation

As much as I've wanted this film to get made, I do understand why it's taken so long to make the leap to the silver screen. For one thing, the film will likely be almost entirely black-and-white (though it will gain more and more color as the story goes on) and there's some disturbing imagery that might make the material unsuitable for its target audience.

Eric Eisenberg
Jun 27, 2011

Jeff Bridges And Nikki Silver To Try And Bring Lois Lowry's The Giver To The Big Screen